FAA lifts airline ground stop as flight delays, cancellations pile up across the country | Fox Business
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration lifted its ground stop order Wednesday morning after suffering a nationwide technical outage causing mass cancellations and delays.
The travel chaos was caused by the failure of the FAA's Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) system, which alerts pilots and other personnel about airborne issues and other delays at airports across the country. More than 740 flights were canceled in the U.S., and more than 4,300 more flights in the U.S. were delayed, as of 9:20 a.m. ET.
FAA investigators are continuing to search for the cause of the outage.
BIDEN SAYS FAA OUTAGE CAUSE MAY NOT BE KNOWN FOR ‘A COUPLE HOURS’
"Normal air traffic operations are resuming gradually across the United States following an overnight outage to the FAA’s Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) system that provides safety information to flight crews," the FAA wrote in its fifth update of the morning.
Passengers wait to depart Chicago's Midway Airport as flight delays stemming from a computer outage at the Federal Aviation Administration has brought flights to a standstill across the U.S. Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast / AP Newsroom)
"The ground stop has been lifted. The agency continues to look into the cause of the initial problem," the statement continued.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DAL | DELTA AIR LINES INC. | 38.56 | +0.47 | +1.25% |
| AAL | AMERICAN AIRLINES GROUP INC. | 15.36 | +0.17 | +1.12% |
| UAL | UNITED AIRLINES HOLDINGS INC. | 46.51 | +0.76 | +1.66% |
| LUV | SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CO. | 36.30 | +0.09 | +0.23% |
PETE BUTTIGIEG OFTEN FLIES ON TAXPAYER-FUNDED PRIVATE JETS, FLIGHT DATA SHOW
Most airlines had already chosen to ground their own craft due to the system's failure early Wednesday.
Steve Gasser of Chicago looks at flight information screen at Chicago's Midway Airport that reflects the flight delays stemming from a computer outage at the Federal Aviation Administration that brought flights to a standstill across the U.S. Wednesd (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast / AP Newsroom)
United Airlines announced its decision to ground all of its aircraft until 10 a.m. ET due to the outage.
The incident comes roughly a week after an air traffic issue prompted the FAA to slow all flight traffic in Florida earlier in January. That failure involved the En Route Automation Modernization at airports across the state.
PILOTS SAY FAA COMPUTER OUTAGE THAT GROUNDED US FLIGHTS NATIONWIDE UNPRECEDENTED
Four Southwest Airlines passenger jets sit at their gates at Chicago's Midway Airport as flight delays stemming from a computer outage at the Federal Aviation Administration has brought departures to a standstill across the U.S. Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2 (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast / AP Newsroom)
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
The earlier January incident affected Southwest Airlines in particular, leaving many travelers stranded without their bags.